Russian invasion

Negotiations
Sources: Frustrated Trump considering sanctions against Russia this week

US President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with the setbacks in brokering peace in Ukraine and is considering sanctions against Russia as early as this week, sources with knowledge of the matter told the Wall Street Journal.

According to the reports, Trump, who during the election campaign promised to arrange peace in Ukraine on his first day in the White House, is considering withdrawing from the negotiations altogether. As early as Sunday, Trump said that he was "absolutely" considering sanctions.

- He kills a lot of people. I don't know what's wrong with him. What the hell happened to him? he said at the time.

The newspaper's sources say that Trump believed that his long-standing relationship with Putin would mean that the Russian president would end the war as a personal favor. 

Trump's new statement about Putin: "Playing with fire"

Donald Trump has published a new attack on Vladimir Putin on Truth Social.

"What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, a lot of bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean really bad things. He's playing with fire!"

The president did not specify what he was referring to.

Trump has been increasingly critical of Putin lately. After Sunday's record-breaking Russian drone attack on Ukraine, he wrote that Putin had gone "completely crazy."

However, the US has not taken up Europe's proposal to jointly escalate sanctions against Russia.

Yesterday, sources told the Wall Street Journal that Trump is becoming increasingly frustrated with Putin and is considering new sanctions this week.

Russian reactions
Russia to connect to Zaporizhia plant

Russia is building power lines to connect the occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia to its own electricity grid, according to a new report from Greenpeace, which the New York Times has seen.

Satellite images show that Russia has built more than 80 kilometers of power lines between the occupied cities of Mariupol and Berdyansk along the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov.

According to Greenpeace, the images indicate that the lines are being laid towards a large substation further west, which was previously connected to the nuclear power plant.

It would be the first time that a belligerent country has taken control of another country's nuclear power plant and used it for its own energy needs.

The nuclear power plant - the largest in Europe - has been the subject of peace negotiations, and the United States has expressed interest in taking over its operation.

European security policy
EU clubs giant fund: Will arm for 1,600 billion

Ministers from EU member states have given the green light to the enormous armament fund worth 150 billion euros, around 1,600 billion kronor, writes Reuters. The fund means that member states will be able to borrow money from Brussels to arm.

The goal is to strengthen the EU's own defense resources, a need that has increased after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The proposal for a fund was presented by Brussels back in March, but today the final thumbs up was given to the process, writes AFP.

French Minister for Europe Benjamin Haddad calls the initiative "a huge step forward" and emphasizes that this reduces Europe's dependence on US weapons.

The fighting
Analysis: The US may withdraw – but Trump's credibility is at stake

When it comes to ending the war in Ukraine, President Trump's statements have become completely meaningless, writes CNN's Stephen Collinson in an analysis. Only concrete actions from the US side will increase the chances of a peace agreement, he believes.

As Collinson sees it, there are two paths that Trump can take:

The US president could impose new sanctions on Russia, which would mean that he could also admit that he could not handle Putin. Alternatively, Trump could argue that neither side wants peace and that it is time for the US to withdraw completely – which both Ukraine and its European allies fear, Collinson writes.

But there is a good reason why Trump may change his mind about the sanctions:

“His credibility is at stake after his bold predictions that he could end the war in 24 hours turned out to be a fantasy,” writes Collinson.

So far, no peace agreement is in sight and Ukraine must therefore urgently get defense systems in place and more support from the West, writes the BBC in an analysis. The Russians have upgraded both their ballistic missiles and the Shahed drones.

“Now they are fast, roar like a fighter jet and can climb up to almost three kilometers before hitting their target,” writes the BBC about the drones.